Editing Kenilworth Castle (section)

===13th century===
Henry's successor, [[Richard I]], paid relatively little attention to Kenilworth, but under King [[John I of England|John]] significant building resumed at the castle.<ref name="Morris 2010, p.37."/> When John was excommunicated in 1208, he embarked on a programme of rebuilding and enhancing several major royal castles. These included [[Corfe Castle|Corfe]], [[Odiham Castle|Odiham]], [[Dover Castle|Dover]], [[Scarborough Castle|Scarborough]] as well as Kenilworth.<ref name="Pettifer, p.258."/> John spent £1,115 on Kenilworth Castle between 1210 and 1216,<ref>Allen Brown 1955, p.394, referenced in Cathcart King 1988, p.71.</ref> building the outer bailey wall in stone and improving the other defences, including creating Mortimer's and Lunn's Towers.<ref>Morris 2010, p.29, 37; Pettifer, p.257.</ref><ref group=lower-alpha>Comparison of medieval financial figures with modern equivalents is challenging, especially with the larger sums of money used for projects such as castles. £1,100 could equate to from between £578,000 to £13m in 2009 terms, depending on the measure used.</ref> He also significantly improved the castle's water defences by damming the Finham and Inchford Brooks, creating the Great Mere.<ref>Hull 2006, p.132.</ref> The result was to turn Kenilworth into one of the largest English castles of the time, with one of the largest artificial lake defences in England.<ref>Pettifer, p.257; Thompson 1965, p.156.</ref> Because John had poured so many resources into the building of the castle and considered it an important strategic castle, he appointed household knights such as [[Robert of Ropsley]] to act as castellans. John was forced to cede the castle to the baronial opposition as part of the guarantee of the [[Magna Carta]], before it reverted to royal control early in the reign of his son, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]].<ref name="Pettifer, p.257."/>
[[File:Kenilworth Castle, 2008.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.4|Kenilworth Castle seen from the west; by the 13th century, the foreground would have been occupied by the water defences of the Great Mere]]
Henry III granted Kenilworth in 1244 to [[Simon de Montfort]], Earl of Leicester, who later became a leader in the [[Second Barons' War]] (1263–67) against the king, using Kenilworth as the centre of his operations.<ref>Platt, p.85.</ref> Initially the conflict went badly for King Henry, and after the [[Battle of Lewes]] in 1264 he was forced to sign the [[Mise of Lewes]], under which his son, [[Edward I of England|Prince Edward]], was given over to the rebels as a hostage.<ref>Prestwich, pp.46–7.</ref> Edward was taken back to Kenilworth, where chroniclers considered he was held in unduly harsh conditions.<ref>Prestwich, p.47.</ref> Released in early 1265, Edward then defeated Montfort at the [[Battle of Evesham]]; the surviving rebels under the leadership of [[Henry de Hastings]], Montfort's [[constable#United Kingdom|constable]] at Kenilworth, regrouped at the castle the following spring.<ref>Carpenter 2004, p.381.</ref> Edward's forces proceeded to lay siege to the rebels.<ref>Prestwich, p.56.</ref>

The [[siege of Kenilworth Castle]] in 1266 was "probably the longest in English history" according to historian Norman Pounds, and at the time was also the largest siege to have occurred in England in terms of the number of soldiers involved.<ref>Pounds, p.121; Prestwich, p.56.</ref> Simon de Monfort's son, [[Simon de Montfort the Younger]], promised in January 1266 to hand over the castle to the king. Five months later this had not happened, and Henry III laid siege to Kenilworth Castle on 21 June.<ref>Morris 2010, p.40.</ref> Protected by the extensive water defences, the castle withstood the attack, despite Edward targeting the weaker north wall, employing huge [[siege tower]]s and even attempting a night attack using barges brought from [[Chester]].<ref name=HullWhitehorneMorrisP32>Hull and Whitehorne, p.32; Morris 2010, p.40.</ref> The distance between the royal [[trebuchet]]s and the walls severely reduced their effectiveness, and heavier trebuchets had to be sent for from London.<ref name=HullWhitehorneMorrisP32/> Papal intervention through the legate [[Pope Adrian V|Ottobuono]] finally resulted in the compromise of the [[Dictum of Kenilworth]], under which the rebels were allowed to re-purchase their confiscated lands provided they surrendered the castle;<ref>Carpenter 2004, p.381; Prestwich, p.57.</ref> the siege ended on 14 December 1266.<ref>Morris, p.41.</ref> The water defences at Kenilworth influenced the construction of later castles in Wales, most notably [[Caerphilly Castle|Caerphilly]].<ref>Hull 2006, p.77.</ref>

Henry granted Kenilworth to his son, [[Edmund Crouchback]], in 1267.<ref name=HullWhitehorneSharpeP32>Hull and Whitehorne, p.32; Sharpe, p.13; Morris 2010, p.41.</ref> Edmund held many tournaments at Kenilworth in the late 13th century, including a huge event in 1279, presided over by the royal favourite [[Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer|Roger de Mortimer]], in which a hundred knights competed for three days in the tiltyard in an event called "[[Round Table|the Round Table]]", in imitation of the popular [[King Arthur|Arthurian legends]].<ref name=HullWhitehorneSharpeP32/>